Pokemon: Omega Ruby (Game Review)

"Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting! Welcome to the world of Pokémon! My name is Birch. But everyone calls me the Pokémon Professor. This world is widely inhabited by creatures known as Pokémon. We humans live alongside Pokémon, at times as friendly playmates, and at times as cooperative workmates. And sometimes, we band together and battle others like us. But despite our closeness, we don't know everything about Pokémon. In fact, there are many, many secrets surrounding Pokémon. To unravel Pokémon mysteries, I've been undertaking research. That's what I do. Are you ready? Your very own adventure is about to unfold. Take courage, and leap into the world of Pokémon where dreams, adventure and friendships await! Well, I'll be expecting you later. Come see me in my Pokémon Lab.”

With those words Professor Birch welcomes you into the Hoenn region and the world of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. The latest release in Nintendo's wildly popular Pokemon DS series. The two games where released on the 3DS in November of 2014. Typical to previous Pokemon games, they followed the previous games trend of keeping the same basic storyline while changing the Legendary Pokemon you capture at the end and some other minor game details. In this case Ruby makes use of "Team Magma" as your primary adversary, and during one part of the game you come across the Legendary Pokemon "Latios" as part of the main quest. Meanwhile, in Sapphire, your opposing team is "Team Aqua" and you run across Latios' female counterpart, "Latias", instead. There are other minor differences in the two game variations, but the games are essentially the same otherwise.

The game takes you through the Hoenn region and its cities to defeat other Pokemon trainers while you unravel the mystery of Groudon, Kyogre, and the Primal Reversion. You begin your travels by choosing a Pokemon from Professor Birch before setting out on your adventure. Your starting Pokemon choices are the grass-type Treecko, the Torchic the fire-type, and the water pokemon Mudkip. From there you go on to travel the region, collecting Pokemon and challenging other trainers. Throughout your wanderings you run across Team Magna and Team Aqua, cult-like organizations who essentially worship Groudon and Kyogre, respectively, and believe the Pokemon hold the secret to rebooting the Earth and its environment. After you discover the secret of Primal Reversion, defeat the Team featured in you particular version of the game, and defeat the Legendary Pokemon, you can go on to challenge the Pokemon League. Your adventure will be filled with suspense, interesting characters, exploration and amazing Pokemon.

I thoroughly enjoyed this game, and it has inspired me to go back and finish playing "Pokemon: Y". I strongly recommend this game to gamers and Pokemon fans everywhere!

I have to be signing off now. Just remember to be your very best, the best there ever was. Now get out there and catch them all!

~Josh Shipman